John & Mick's BIG AdventureJaipur
Day 63 – 422 kms (15331 kms total)
We left Sirsa at 7 and headed first to Hirsa, a stretch where monkeys inhabit the roadside and all come to investigate when Mick stops to photo one. Camels appear back on the list of sights, ploughing fields and pulling overloaded carts.
At our first petrol station of the day, we are served another round of Chai – how civilised!
From here on the desert returns, lots of fine sand blows over the road but the view is still quite green with a scattered covering of grass and many trees.
Coconut trees appeared on the scene and John had the brief company of a parrot flying with him.
Reaching Jaipur, we found a tuk-tuk to lead us to the MadhuBan hotel – very colonial, where Indian squirrels roam the lawns, a pool lies in wait and internet access is in-house!
There are many things to see in Jaipur and after a disappointing breakfast, we set off with by tuk-tuk to explore as many as possible.
First stop was an ATM for cash. Fuel costs have risen to almost a Euro a litre, adding 30% to what we paid in Pakistan. We then topped up the mobile phone card and made our way to the old city and the City Palace complex.
The palace comprises of a series of joined courtyards and palace buildings which are still inhabited by the son of the last Maharajah and his family.
After wandering around these courtyards, we cross the road to the Jantar Mantar, an observatory dating from 1728, where an array of bizarre sculptures are all instruments for measuring astronomical movement. Unfortunately parts of it are being refurbished, so not all pieces were accessible to view.
From here we travelled a few kilometres out of town to the Amber fort.
An impressive fort-palace, built on a rocky hillside, mixes Mughal and Rajput architecture, where we were given a brief guided tour of the main areas. Again much of this is still being renovated,
which takes away some of its potential splendour. A small detour to the Shri Jagat Temple was also included by our guide and well worthwhile.
On the return journey, our driver insisted on stopping at some of the local ‘handicraft centres’ where we learned about semiprecious gemstones and carpet making.
We managed to avoid the textile emporium!!
After a small late lunch, we headed off to Galta, on the edge of the city, where the Temple of the Sun God, (aka the Monkey Temple), promised us hordes of monkeys. The temple sits at the top of a steep climb and although there are some great views over the city from the small temple at the top, alas, nobody invited the monkeys!! It was the wrong time of day… too hot!
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